Accessibility Tip Sheet – Understanding Barriers to Accessibility
Understanding Barriers to Accessibility
What is a barrier?
A barrier is anything that stops, impedes, prevents or causes difficulty for a person with a
disability from fully participating in all aspects of society.
There are many kinds of barriers:
Architectural barriers may result from the design of the building, shape of rooms, size of
doorways, or width of hallways, for example.
Physical barriers refer to objects added to the environment, such as doors, windows, elevators,
furniture, bathroom hardware, etc.
Information or communication barriers make it difficult for people to receive or send
information. For example, a person with a visual disability may not be able to read printed
materials, read signs, locate landmarks, or see a hazard. A person with an intellectual disability
may not understand information that is not expressed in plain language.
Attitudinal barriers refer to persons who do not know how to communicate with people with
disabilities, or persons who display discriminatory behaviours.
Technology barriers refer to devices such as computers, telephones, inadequate or
inappropriate assistive technologies.
Systemic barriers can result from an organization’s policies, practices and protocols if they
restrict persons with disabilities.
Excerpted from www.mcss.gov.on.ca
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities - Popular Topics
Accessibility Tip Sheet – Understanding Barriers to Accessibility
Examples of disabilities
Examples of what you can do
Physical
Are your customer service counters too high
for people in wheelchairs?
Deaf or hard of hearing
Do you have TTY/TextNet service so that you
can communicate with someone who is deaf
or hard of hearing?
Vision disability
Are your printed materials designed using
large, high contrast typefaces?
Are your signs displayed in contrasts and
typefaces as recommended by CNIB
(Canadian National Institute for the Blind)?
Is the information on your website easy to
read and easy to access?
Mental health disability
Have your employees received training in
understanding and being sensitive to the
needs of people with a mental health
disability?
Learning/intellectual
disability
Are your publications in plain language and
easy to read?
Are your signs clear (easy to see and
understand), concise (simple, short and to
the point) and consistent (signs meaning the
same thing should always appear the same.
For example, fire exit signs should be in red
not green)?
Excerpted from www.mcss.gov.on.ca
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities - Popular Topics